Irredeemable
by SqueezeMyDucky
Summary: The fact that Niles has so much potential, so much wit and intellect to offer but refuses to try and redeem himself infuriates his professor... But it's the lines they dance around that irritate Leo more.


**Long time, no fic! It's been a busy... couple of years. Wow. Either way, here's some NiLeo I wrote for a friend and didn't finish until a couple minutes ago. College AU, but roles are switched up a bit.**

 **I don't own the rights to any characters from Fates, but this fic is 100% me. Enjoy!**

Scratch, scratch, squeak, tap.

"... As for what DaVinci had to offer related to the Enlightenment and early Renaissance, his contributions continue to inspire and fuel current scientific research."

Brushing a stray blonde hair out of the way with his free hand, Leo managed to hold his textbook open at the same time. It was a talent he developed during his thesis rehearsals, and to this day he was thankful he had learned to juggle as much as he could. With another set of scratches, taps, and the occasional squeak, he wrote out the homework and circled it, turning back to the rows of students.

"Be sure to read chapters seven through eleven by next week. Your notes MUST be legible and turned in at the start of class on Monday!"

The emphasized "must" was directed at a certain student, the same one who continued to stay seated as all the other students filtered out of the lecture hall. At first, Leo felt he had to be kind and understanding, considering the fact that he was in a special program and was supposed to try his absolute best to keep up with the curriculum handed to him. However, as the semester dragged on, from mediocre essays (by anyone's standards) to the occasional off-handed comment in the middle of a lecture, his undisciplined, unruly demeanor disrupted Leo's train of thought constantly, leaving his meticulously planned lessons an interrupted mess as he waited for him to either stop out of boredom or be asked to be quiet for the duration of class. The man, tall, tan, well-built, in his early thirties and sporting a decorative leather patch over his right eye smiled in a way that was almost mocking him. Almost.

"It was nearly impossible to sit here, just watching you, Professor. Watching you write gets me excited for more than what you're teaching…" He purred his words, moving to sit on the desk in the most front and center part of the lecture hall. His ankles crossed, dangling over the edge of the wooden tabletop as he leaned back on his hands couldn't be construed as anything less than overtly sexual.

"If it's impossible to just be sitting, Niles, you might do some good for your grades by keeping those hands of yours busy with notes," Leo replied bluntly.

Leo was no stranger to flirtatious advances, but he wasn't partial either. Having dedicated his college experience to his studies, his post-grad education to anything but legal adult fun, he had become an expert in rejecting and avoiding any sort of distraction to his academics. Yet Niles took pleasure in trying to worm his way in under Leo's skin, to try and break his practiced professionalism. The way his single blue eye didn't let him out of its sight, practically undressing him with its intense gaze. If Leo was any less of the man he was, Niles would have made him shudder.

Closing his textbook, the one he'd chosen for this course, as penned by his father and other art history colleagues of the Nohr family, he set it down on his desk and turned to face Niles, firm and unwilling to let him continue these inappropriate advances.

"Ooh, that's cold. And here we are, this whole classroom to ourselves. I was thinking I could help take that stick out of your a-"

"Since there aren't any classes coming in," Leo interrupted, for the sake of all that was good and decent in this world, "I'd like to take some time to talk about your grades."

"What about them?" Niles asked, sitting up straight, his lips already pressed into a firm line.

"They're abysmal."

There was a small flash of fear in that smoky blue eye, but it was gone as quickly as Leo noticed, and replaced by that same promiscuousness he had been exuding. "Is that so…? Perhaps I need some help. I've been waiting for a tutor. I'm partial to cute blondes."

Cute. Leo pursed his lips, letting the word roll around in his brain. It wasn't something he was called often, not since he started living away from his sisters. Even then, he'd brush it off or become frustrated at the mention of it, but something about the way Niles said it… The way it came out of that cat-like smirk, toned body beckoning him with every single inch of muscle trapped under clothes that were the slightest bit too tight for a man of his stature… Whatever feeling it evoked, Leo suppressed it and stood tall, taking a step forward.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, lest I inform your parole officer waiting outside."

Leo's words triggered something in Niles, making him drop the flirty act completely and speak sincerely… Or more sincerely than anything he'd seen in class.

"... I've never been all that good. You knew my track record from the start."

"I had to. I was in charge of this program." Theft, armed robbery, breaking and entering, connections to seedy organizations. It was a miracle he'd gotten out so soon, but from what he'd heard it had been due to good behavior and assisting the police. He was a man with a violent past, but he had potential. This program, the same Leo had begged the dean to fund and push forward. The idea of having former convicts on parole go back to school to get them back on track reintegrating into society had been dismissed as a pipe dream by an idealistic youth. But Leo had persisted, and with the dean's reluctant acceptance, had found the perfect candidate to try this program out on. Smart enough to be in college level courses, with a mind and mouth sharp as a knife, Niles had become eligible for parole in time to be offered this opportunity.

It disappointed- no, infuriated Leo to see Niles squandering it.

"Are you really so desperate to destroy this second chance, Niles?" He asked, his tone softer than before, trying to gauge the man sitting before him.

"I've had tons of chances. Blown every single one of them," Niles' eye was distant as he spoke, recalling things Leo knew on paper about his past but could never in his life understand.

"But you're here, trying to get your life on track, are you not?"

"I thought it would be more fun than sitting around in a halfway home."

"I suggest you start looking for some motivation…"

Niles smiled playfully, grabbing Leo's tie and pulling him closer, close enough to brush against his lips. "I'll take that as a sign to go ahead…" he whispered, breath hot against Leo's mouth, making him shudder softly. God, he couldn't just let Niles get away with this, no matter what Leo wanted from him. It was unheard of, uncouth, unbelievably illegal. He couldn't possibly lay a hand on his student…

As if a lightbulb had gone off in his head, Leo took the extending pointer he used to reach parts of the chalkboard that he'd slid up to the upper levels and pressed the cold metal tip of it to Niles' lips, enough to get his attention.

"It wouldn't be in either of our interests to have you thrown out of here, Niles..." Leo whispered, pulling away and out of his clutches, not removing the pointer. Technically he wasn't touching Niles, so he was in the clear. Supposedly. The long list of rules concerning student and teacher conduct in the legally binding contract he had been obligated to sign upon landing this job said nothing about fending off sexual advances with a telescoping baton. It most certainly said nothing about letting the tip of said baton run along your older student's lips and chiseled jawline, brushing against the teak skin of his neck, eliciting a shudder and look of surprised elation encompassing his visage.

Biting his lip to keep any and all noises from escaping his mouth, Leo felt the corners of his mouth turn upward, failing to disguise how smug he felt. Seeing Niles' bravado gone, his body squirming because of Leo was the greatest and most titillating experience of his life, with only a single thought holding him back from moving the baton lower.

God, I'm so fired.

It was a difficult choice. Incredibly so. Never before had Leo thought he'd find himself torn between his love of academia and throwing everything he'd worked for away and stomping on it, crushing it beneath the same polished black oxford that he ran the tip of along Niles' bare ankle. Holding his body and gaze still long enough to see Niles begin to pant softly, his smoky blue eye gazing up at him with such incredible lust and restraint, Leo closed his eyes and breathed out a sigh that he was almost shocked wasn't shaky. He pulled back, sliding his pointer back into its shorter form, and gathered up his things. Sparing him a mere side glance, whether to spare himself the sight of his student's wanton form or to not give the man his full attention, Leo addressed Niles in the calmest, most professional tone he could.

"I expect your homework in at the start of next class."

Niles watched Leo leave the lecture hall and shut the door, every nerve in his body on edge still. Through what would become the worst case of blue balls in his life, he couldn't help but realize something about his positively adorable professor.

"Clumsy boy… His tie was on backwards."


End file.
